Supreme Court Justice’s Bodyguards Shot Would-Be Carjacker, Despite Her Opposition To Self-Defense
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s bodyguards shot a carjacker outside of her home while on duty, according to a report from the New York Post.
Two deputy US Marshals were parked outside Sotomayor’s home when an 18-year-old would-be carjacker walked up to their cars and pulled a gun on one of the federal agents. The 18-year-old, Kentrell Flowers, walked up to the Marshals’ cars around 1:15 a.m.
Both agents pulled their weapons out and fired several shots at the suspect. Flowers was arrested and treated at a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. The 18-year-old is being charged with armed carjacking, carrying a pistol without a license, and possession of a large-capacity magazine.
The left-wing justice was not home at the time of the carjacking, a source told the New York Post. DC detectives are investigating the shooting and recovered a semi-automatic handgun from the scene.
“The Deputy US Marshals involved in the shooting incident were part of the unit protecting the residences of U.S. Supreme Court justice,” the US Marshals office confirmed in a statement.
Commentators online suggest Sotomayor appears hypocritical over her armed security details, despite her perceived opposition to the use of firearms for self-defense. In a 2010 dissent opinion issued by the liberal justices on the court Sotomayor agreed with the idea that “the carrying of arms for [self-defense] often puts others’ lives at risk.”
“In sum, the Framers did not write the Second Amendment in order to protect a private right of armed self-defense,” Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for the minority, to which Sotomayor concurred.
During her nomination hearing, Sotomayor claimed that she aligned with the Court’s precedent establishing the individual right to keep and bear arms in the District of Columbia v Heller case.
“I understand … how important the right to bear arms is to many, many Americans,” Sotomayor said during her 2009 nomination hearing. “And I have friends who hunt. I understand the individual right fully that the Supreme Court recognized.”
